E3 2003: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Share.

By IGN Staff

The phenomenon known as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has returned. Once four meager turtles living happily in the sewers of New York were exposed to radioactive ooze, these four turtles, Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo and Rafael, transformed into pizza-loving, humanoid and combat-hungry creatures like none other. Created in May 1984 by Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman in a 40-page, black-and-white comic book, the turtles are back in full force, whether it's in the animated TV series, the comic books or the new toy figures. They are back in high gear.

Konami plans on delivering a faithful representation of the TNMT universe, based on FoxBox's TMNT animated series. Slated for October 2003 on PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, Xbox Nintendo GameBoy Advance and PC, Konami has plans to invade the videogaming world with a whole new look at the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

"This game lets players step into the action-packed world of the popular TMNT animated TV series," said Erica Mason, product manager at Konami of America. "Fans of the original games have been clamoring for the return of the 'heroes in a half shell' and this game delivers with a punch."

Players enter into an action-based game where they must master martial arts abilities and hand-to-hand fighting skills in either a Story Mode (2 player co-operative) or VS Mode (2 player competitive); and each turtle owns a special attack using a unique combination of buttons. Konami is giving fans six stages built with a whopping 35 levels and a healthy dose of scrolls to collect (which then give the turtles even more moves to employ). All of the characters, including Splinter, Casey Jones, April O'Neal, Baxter Stockman and The Shredder will appear in the game.